


An Unperfect Match

by AmethystAuthoress



Series: Chosen [1]
Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux, Phantom of the Opera - Lloyd Webber
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Erik's insecure, F/M, Forced Marriage, Future Fic, Marriage Law Challenge, Modern Era, Pre-Relationship, marriage law
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmethystAuthoress/pseuds/AmethystAuthoress
Summary: The government passed a new law requiring marriage from all suitable citizens. Erik did not expect to get a Chosen (someone who they think he should marry and reproduce with), and is amazed to find a large envelope come to him in the mail...
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Erik & Nadir Khan, Erik | Phantom of the Opera & The Persian
Series: Chosen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1561705
Comments: 3
Kudos: 70





	An Unperfect Match

Erik is not pleased. He is really, really not pleased. He is not just angry at the government though - he is also angry at Nadir for considering this to be a potential.   
“I’m not opening it,” He repeats to the Persian, gruffly.  
“Erik, you have to open it! Legally and for your own sake!”  
The man holds a large envelope in his hand, and is waving it around wildly, in front of the fireplace. Erik is surprised that Nadir hadn’t taken it upon himself to open it yet. Though, he is hoping that the letter accidentally (or “accidentally”) falls into the fire instead.  
“I’m not going to be forcibly married off by the state!”

Around two years ago brought discussions of legally required marriages. The large outbreak around a decade prior killed off a large amount of the population, and people were getting concerned. The potential law scared them...but the idea of humanity dying off scared some more. There already had been advertisements in support of marriage at younger and younger ages. People whispered about the potential new requirements often.  
Erik mainly ignored those whispers...until eight months ago, when the law was actually signed into motion. Every person would need to get a physical examination, talk with a therapist, fill out questionnaires, etc. You had six months to marry someone of your own choosing. Past then, you’d have to wait two months to see if you got sent your chosen.  
Your chosen were people the government felt were most suitable for you, based on your answers to the questionnaires and discussion with the therapist, mixed with the information gained from the physical examination/medical history. People generally got a list with 3-5 names, though there were a few cases of people getting more or less than that. People had six months from when they received their chosen list to decide who they were going to marry and reproduce with.  
Not everyone got a chosen list. Some people were infertile or deemed unideal for producing offspring. While the ones with chosen got a large envelope, containing information on their matches, the ones without merely got a small letter that explained why they weren’t given a chosen.  
It is for that reason that Erik never worried about the new law.  
“There’s no way they’re going to give me a chosen list, Daroga,” He had said.  
Nadir shook his head at that, toasting his friend with a cup of whiskey.  
“Come on, old friend,” He laughed, “Don’t be like that. Your self deprecation is as old as sin.”  
“And I’m as ugly as sin!”  
The air changed after that comment. It was less playful now, as Erik stared deeply into his own glass of whiskey. The color of the drink was not so unlike his eyes - the only part of him that could ever he labeled as beautiful. Erik knew what he was. He knew how others saw him. He knew he was meant to live this odd solitary life, with only Nadir and his cat for friends.   
“I’m a hideous excuse for a man,” He stated, “They won’t subject some poor woman to that.”

Erik was wrong.

The large envelope that came in the mail 20 minutes prior was proof to that fact, though he still refused to open it. The women would have their own lists and they would choose a nice young man from one of those options. Why would Erik entertain an idea that wasn’t a real possibility? He obviously wouldn’t be chosen. Let the women work out their lives so he could be left alone again, he thought. Nadir disagreed.

“Erik, open it. Now.”  
His head is throbbing, but he finally gives. Taking the large envelope from Nadir, he rips it open and lets the papers fall out onto his lap. There’s a whole bunch of government documents, a letter, a small folder, and…  
Erik feels his chest constrict.  
There is a photo of possibly the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. She is standing in front of a theatre in the photo, bundled up with snow falling around her. Erik cannot make out the woman’s figure, but her face is round and flushed from the cold. Her nose is small, and her eyes large. It reminds him of a doe and he feels that he could write whole ballads based on her brown eyes. Her hair is in long brown ringlets and she’s smiling broadly at whoever took the picture.   
She looks like an angel.  
“Well?” Nadir interrupts Erik’s thinking.   
The masked man is confused for a few moments, before it sets in. That woman is his chosen. He is supposed to meet up with her to discuss the possibility of marriage. Oh god…  
Nadir has already gathered up the paperwork and began reading.  
“Christine Agatha Daae. She is 20 years old, 5’2”, Swedish background, with both parents deceased. She currently is studying at a university, majoring in Music Education. She li-”  
“Stop.”  
Erik was staring at the photo still, though he wasn’t really seeing it. With some effort, he let it fall to the ground, before standing up.   
“Erik,” Nadir began, “Give her a chance. She seems like a sweet girl, and she clearly also loves music.”  
“She is fifteen years my junior and beautiful. She should have no interest in a man like me.”  
With that, he left the room.


End file.
